Monday, March 24, 2008

Yesterday we came out of church and this was on our cars! Quin is so upset he couldn't even post this blog! He says this is what they must be learning at "That" school.

Our friends the McArthur's daughter was in town (the blood traitor, as Quin calls her) and she decided to do this. Our protective layer of dirt wasn't thick enough I guess. But we did hear that they almost ruined their markers trying to get through it.

So apparently 30 tablespoons of baking cocoa is too much for a double batch of brownies. I was trying to make brownies from scratch to take to one of the ladies I visit teach who just had a baby. I decided to double the batch so that Quin could have a few brownies. The recipe called for 5oz of baking chocolate. I don't have baking chocolate, but on the back of the Hershey's baking cocoa it says that 3 tablespoons of baking cocoa and a tablespoon of oil equal a 1oz square of baking chocolate. So lets all do the math. 5oz x 3 tablespoons= 15 tablespoons. Now I was making a double batch, so of course 15x2= 30 tablespoons of baking cocoa. While I was scooping out the baking cocoa, I was thinking, 'Wow, this is a lot of baking cocoa.' But I am not the best cook, so who am I to argue with Betty Crocker and Hershey? When I was all done, I decided to try to make butter cream frosting. It was really lumpy and not fluffy at all like it usually is when I make it, so I thought, 'hum? I wonder if the brownies will be good enough without frosting?' Good thing I tasted them before I took them to the lady. They were awful! So dry and they tasted like I had eaten a spoonful of unsweetened baking cocoa. I guess if I cut the brownies into 30 squares, it would be like I had eaten a spoonful of unsweetened baking cocoa. I don't care what the recipe says, that is too much! Good thing Quin can cook or we would likely go hungry!

Sunday, March 23, 2008

In May of last year I decided that since Quin was going to turn 30 he needed to have a surprise birthday party. It stayed in the back of my mind all year and I kept thinking of a way to plan a party with him right there all of the time. I was thinking that I would do it the day before his birthday, he would come home from work and "Surprise!!!" Then a friend of ours suggested that we go on a motorcycle ride together that weekend. Of course, Quin was sooo excited to go on that ride. So I had to change my plans. The subject was brought up about us having a dinner party with all of our friends. I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to plan a party that Quin knew about but didn't know that it was his party. The Saturday before his birthday was March 15th, the Ides of March. In Shakespeare's "Julius Cesar" Cesar is warned by a soothsayer about the Ides of March. Brutus kills Cesar on the Ides of March and you have the famous "Et tu Brute'?" line. Can you think of any better reason to throw a party than that? I can't! We originally thought that we would have a murder mystery dinner, but then we just decided to have a Roman themed party. Above is the invitation we gave to our friends.Quin and his cake. He was pretty surprised when I announced that it was actually his birthday and my friend Stacie brought in this cake. Pretty ingenious if I do say so my self, this way I got him to help with his own party. I forgot to buy candles so we only had a few and tried to make it into a 3--0. I had a dream that I forgot to get the cake. I was so worried about that, I forgot candles. Oh well.(Note the cake has golf balls and is on the 118th hole) Most people dressed up, it was so fun! We even went to a party store and rented pillars. You can kindof see them in the background of this picture. We had really tall ones that we wrapped with vines at the entrance, of course we didn't get a picture. We mostly spent the night talking and eating, what a great combination! For the centerpieces we bought grapes and put them on gold plates and put leafs around the table. It was easy and tasty! We had harp music playing. It made for a nice relaxing atmosphere.

Our friends the McArthurs. They arrived late, but they looked good!How awesome is it that Quin humored me when I told him I wanted an Ides of March party?The lady in the toga in the back is my friend, Stacie. I couldn't have done it without her!To everyone who was there, thanks for coming! To everyone that didn't, we missed you!

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Well I am now a housewife again. I decided to quit my job and stay home and watch my 'stories'. That is not really why I quit, but that is what Quin likes to say. I am sure I am going to cause all kinds of rumors, but the truth is I want to finish school. I have so many credits that I could probably have a couple of degrees, but no official degree. So I quit and am now going to be a "lady who lunches" as one of my co-workers put it. My boss and I worked out an agreement that I will be on call. When they need a substitute, then they will call me. This works out quite well as far as I am concerned I can go to school, lunch with my friends, and on occasion go to work. Quin is terrified that I am going to get bored (that was the original reason I got a job, because I was going crazy cooped up inside the house)! I guess we will see. I just have to keep myself busy so he won't be right.

About Me

Welcome to the Quin and Natalie show. We think our lives are so fun that we should have our own reality show. Since no producers have called we thought that we would make this little blog so our family can share in the zainyness we call our lives.